Kosmos 482 Mission

Kosmos 482 Mission: Recently A piece of a Soviet spacecraft launched more than 50 years ago is expected to crash back to Earth later this week.

• About Mission : The mission was part of a series of probes that the erstwhile Soviet Union launched during the Cold War to explore Venus. The planet was a subject of interest for two reasons.

o One, the thick clouds of Venus were believed to be hiding life on the surface.

o Two, the Soviets wanted to demonstrate their scientific superiority by sending probes to a far-off planet.

o The Kosmos 482 consisted of various instruments to measure the temperature, pressure, wind speed, visibility, atmospheric gases and rock composition, and radio the results back to Earth.

o It was designed to study Venus's atmosphere and surface, but a launch malfunction prevented it from reaching its destination, and the probe instead remained in Earth orbit for over 50 years.